Experts on UK politics say that the Troy collapse is, first and foremost, May’s own fault. She has run a disastrous campaign filled with unpopular policies and embarrassing flip-flops that have seriously shaken British confidence in her ability to govern. Meanwhile, the public’s view of Corbyn was so dim that there really wasn’t anywhere else to go but up — and his relatively competent campaign trail performance has helped that. [...]
To be clear, May’s Conservatives are still heavily, heavily favored to win a majority on Thursday. They’re still ahead in the polls by a healthy margin, and May is still viewed more favorably than Corbyn is overall in opinion polls. Moreover, the basic setup of British politics gives the Conservatives an intrinsic advantage in the 2017 race: Their supporters are more likely to vote and tend to live in more strategically important areas. [...]
Some of the issues the Conservatives chose to talk about were especially unpopular. On May 9, for instance, the prime minister came out in favor of legalizing fox hunting — a traditional, but cruel, pastime of the British upper classes that had been banned by a Labour government in the mid-2000s. The comments made her out of touch with ordinary British concerns, interested in the cultural priorities of the rich rather than what really matters to most people. [...]
The criticism of the “dementia tax” was so overwhelming that, three days later, it was removed from the Conservative manifesto. This actually managed to make things worse: It suggested that May, who was selling herself as a strong hand during the Brexit negotiations, wasn’t to be trusted.
No comments:
Post a Comment